The Five People You Meet In the Netherworld
by KaNugget
Summary: The Five People You Meet In the Netherworld of the Force. After his death Anakin Skywalker is sent to the Netherworld of the Force and reunited with his friends and family. Will they forgive him for his crimes as Darth Vader? Will he forgive himself?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own either Star Wars or the Five People You Meet In Heaven.

a/n: I got this idea from the book The Five People You Meet In Heaven, only I've adapted it for the Star Wars Universe. It actually is a really good book that you should read sometime.

The Five People You Meet in the Netherworld of the Force

By: Kell KaNugget

Chapter 1

"You're coming with me. I can't leave you here. I've got to save you." I could hear the urgency in my son's voice as he pleaded to take me with him, to save my life.

"You already have, Luke," I said. I smiled at my son. "You were right about me. Tell your sister…you were right." I could feel myself getting weaker. I only had a few more moments of life left.

"Father, I won't leave you!" but Luke's words fell upon deaf ears. I was dead.

* * *

I awoke with a strange feeling. I felt youthful and, dare I say, human. And to my surprise that was because I was youthful and human. I was in another body. By _the Force!_ I thought. My new body was small, like the body of an innocent child. Had I transferred into a child's body, thus destroying that child's life? Was I still a murderer?

I shook my head refusing to believe it. Looking around my surrounding I noticed I was in a forest near a swamp. I ran to the water and leaned over it, trying to get a better look at my reflection. I touched my face in shock. It was me, only it was the child version of me. I couldn't be older than ten.

I looked at my arms. Flesh! I felt my legs and gripped my tight muscles. How was it possible?

"Just as I remembered you," someone said. I jerked because I hadn't noticed anyone around. I turned to see a face I hadn't seen in over three decades.

"Qui-Gon," I whispered. He nodded as I lost all emotional control and ran to him. I wrapped my tiny flesh arms around him and he held me tight. "By the Force, how?" I asked.

Qui-Gon ended our hug and knelt down to my level. "Welcome to the Netherworld of the Force." The Netherworld of the Force was the place where souls went after their physical ones died.

"So I am dead?" I asked. I was still getting use to my high prepubescent voice. It sounded strange. "I never imagined it was like this…why am I child?"

"I am the first person you'll meet," he told me, ignoring my question about my body, "You will see five people who have influenced your life, or who's life you have influenced."

I flinched at that. I had changed a lot of people's lives, but not in a good way. "So this is where I get the big lecture?" I asked, "Where people scream, and rant and rave at me. Where they torture me like I did to them? And then I got to Chaos."

Qui-Gon began to laugh.

"Ah, this is Chaos. The ranting and the raving and the torture." I rolled my eyes, "Come on, I know the Force can do better than that."

"Ani," Qui-Gon said to me still smiling, "Do you really believe you belong in Chaos?"

I thought about it. Chaos. Hell. Did I belong there? Of course I did. I slaughtered billions; that tribe of Tusken Raiders, the Citizens of Alderaan, countless innocent strangers, and worst of all countless loved ones. I deserved to feel the pain and suffering of each individual that I had killed, and even then it wouldn't be enough.

"You were the choose one, Ani," Qui-Gon said to me. He stroked my hair. I felt tears welding up in my eyes. I was acting like I was nine again. "You were suppose to bring balance to the force."

I remembered Obi-Wan's words from Mustafar. _"You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would, destroy the Sith, not join them. It was you who would bring balance to the Force, not lead it in Darkness." _I expected a similar lecture from Qui-Gon.

"It has taken longer than we expected and you may have made some mistakes, but you, Anakin, have fulfilled the prophecy."

"What?" I asked flabbergasted. I pushed myself away from Qui-Gon and out of his grasp. What kind of Sith trick was this? I didn't destroy the Sith; I became one!

I looked around my surroundings once again, expecting the forest to shift into the fiery pits of Chaos. No transformation occurred.

Qui-God stood up. He was so tall and stood with such grace. A soft smile appeared on his lips once again. "You killed Darth Sidious. And in doing so, Anakin, you killed Vader. The Sith are no more."

I looked down at my feet and pondered this. "But all those people I killed," I said quietly, "Killing one monster doesn't redeem me from my crimes."

Qui-Gon walked away from me and deeper into the forest. I assumed he wanted me to follow so I did. We walked for a really long time in silence and I began to doubt Qui-Gon wanting me to tag along. Finally we stopped at a lake. It was beautiful. Across the lake was a beautiful city. I recognized it. It was Theed, just as it was when I was a little boy. I thought about Padmé for a second, something I had not allowed myself to do for many years.

"The things you did were so horrible, Ani," Qui-Gon said. He would not look at me this time. "But the force has forgiven you. Now you must learn to forgive yourself."

"I always wondered," I said, "If you had trained me, if you had been my master, would I have still fallen to the dark side."

"Is it worth the effort to wonder?" Qui-Gon asked, "You can't change the past, only hope for a better future. The future has changed for the better because of your actions, Ani." Finally Qui-Gon turned to me. He knelt down on one knee again and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Obi-Wan was a good man. You need to stop blaming him and take responsibility."

"I know what I am responsible for," I said, shaking Qui-Gon's arms off of me. I took a step back away from the man.

"He didn't fail you, Ani," Qui-Gon said. I didn't want to believe him, but I knew it was true. I couldn't blame Obi-Wan for my mistakes. "He did a better job training you than I could have ever done." I looked at Qui-Gon and I saw tears in his eyes. I ran to Qui-Gon again and hugged him. "Forgive Obi-Wan," he said, "But most of all, forgive yourself."

With that I felt Qui-Gon begin to fade from my arms. "No!" I yelled. I couldn't lose him again, not after I lost so much already. I was dead, without him who was going to guide me through the Netherworld? I squeezed harder but soon I was just hugging myself. I began to sob and yell his name. Then the forest around me began to consume me.

I began sinking into the ground. "No!" I shouted, "Qui-Gon, help me! Somebody help me!" Maybe Qui-Gon was wrong; maybe was going to end up in Chaos. My body sank more. When my legs were underneath and I tried to push my body up with my arms, but my hands just fell through the ground. Soon all of my body was underground except my head. "Qui-Gon!" I managed to yell one more time before the ground covered my head. And then there was nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Amypoundultimateginge: I did not put Ahsoke in here because it is unknown when she dies. For all we know Ashoke survives the Great Jedi Purge, and then there will be a remake where Ahsoke turns Darth Vader back to the light and then calls him Skyguy! ...I may or may not hate Ashoke :p About who Anakin will meet, well you'll just have to keep reading to find out  
**

**Juggernaut: Don't worry, I won't ruin it by not updating. I'll ruin it by being a bad writter :p**

**TheMacUnleashed: Thank you for for you review. I always fret about whether or not my characters are in character. I'm actually not bad at keeping them in character, but still I fret.  
**

**A/N: I'd like to thank everyone else for their reviews. This is my first fanfic in two years and my first serious Star Wars one ever. The more you review the more I write :)  
**

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Chapter 2

My body started to change again. I felt it stretch. I groan, not from pain, but just from the uncomfortably of it. "By the Force!" I shouted. My head began to feel lighter as pieces of hair fell off. I touch the top of my head. It was short except for a long braid on the right side of my head; my padawan braid. I touched it and played with it in my hands. I closed my eyes trying to remember my time as a padawan. When I opened them I was on Coruscant.

I was in a bar on one of the lower level of planet. There was a huge crowd that I looked through trying to find a familiar face. Qui-Gon said I would meet five people so it had to be time for number two. I tired figured out who I was going to meet. I mentally ran a list of all the people I had killed. There were too many to remember. I wondered if I would even remember this person? Surely they would remember me.

Then I saw her. She sat at a quite booth in back of the building. We made eye contact. She stood up and with her eyes she beckoned me to follow. I nodded and trailed after her. She walked us out onto the busy street.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I couldn't believe I was seeing her again. She died so suddenly. I never had the chance to tell her what I needed to say.

"You know what I always wanted to see, Ani?"

I shrugged while holding back tears. It was so great to hear her voice again.

"The Jedi Temple," she said with a huge beaming smile, "Would you take me there?"

"Mom," I said the losing the battle with my tears. She just smiled and took me into her arms. Somehow she always knew how to make me feel better. It was strange, though, hugging my mom. When I left her when I was nine I was so much shorter than her. When we said our goodbyes she had to bend over to give me a hug. But in this hug I was the tall one.

I wondered how old I was, or technically how old my body was. I was probably nineteen; that would make sense, Qui-Gon died when I was nine and my mom died when I was nineteen. I remembered that day; it haunted me, just like the day when I became Vader haunted me.

We walked to the Jedi Temple in a comfortable silence. There were so many things I wanted to tell to her but I didn't know what to say. She seemed happy to see me, but did she know what I had done?

We arrived to the steps of the Jedi Temple.

"Am I allowed in here?" I asked. She nodded. We walked through the halls where younglings ran and played. I wondered if they were the younglings I killed. If they were they didn't seem scared of me, they didn't even seem to notice me.

I took her to the Room of a Hundred Fountains.

"It's beautiful," my mother said. She walked around me in a circle, trying to take it all in.

"I know," I said. I took her hand and showed her to a nice mediation spot where we could be alone. "I always loved this place. It's peaceful."

"But it's nighttime, Ani," she said looking at the sky.

"The sky is artificial," I explained.

"So this is where you grew up?" she asked, "It is a much better place for a young boy than Tatooine.

I wondered why my mother was filled with such amazement while Qui-Gon seemed like he had all the answers. "Mom?" I asked, "Am I one of your five people?"

She smiled and shook her head, "No, my son. I know, I must be acting like a child, it's just I've never seen this place before. I always imagined it, but never anything like this."

"This is just one part of the temple. There are training rooms, and classrooms, and of course our quarters. But this was always my favorite place." We talked for a while. I told her about my life at the temple, about Obi-Wan as my Master, and about Padmé."

"I know about Padmé," she said, "I know about Luke and Leia too." My mother did know about my life then. She had to have known about Vader too.

"So, after my five people," I asked, "What happens? Am I not allowed to wander the galaxy? Is that it, just those five people and then nothing? What if Padmé isn't one of my five people? I must see her, Mom. I love her." For what must have been the tenth time today I cried.

My mother reached out and stroked my face, "Oh Ani, don't be scared. I remembered when I first came here I was scared. The Netherworld works in strange ways. It takes you where you need to go."

"I need to see Padmé!" I said.

"If that is true, then the Force shall take you to her."

"What about Luke and Leia?" I asked, "I always imagined being able to watched my loved ones after death. You knew about my life. Will I be able to watch my children?"

"Of course you will. And you can watch their family too. Oh, Ani, I can already see wedding bells in Leia's future."

I thought about Leia. I thought about all the horrible things I did to her. I destroyed Alderaan, I placed her up for execution, and I froze her boyfriend in carbonite. I actually didn't feel bad about the last one. But the first two were horrible!

I looked deep into my mother's eyes. "I really screwed up, mom."

My mom placed her arms around my shoulder and put my head into her lap. I cried while she stroked my face. "Hush, Ani, it'll be okay." She hummed a lullaby until I fell asleep.

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**A/n: Please review, or I, must like Anakin, will cry. **


	3. Chapter 3

**origamikungfu: That's excalty what I was going for. The begining of chapter two is actually why I don't lable the chapters with each charactr's name. **

**HiddenJediLover: That's my favorite line too!**

**TheMacUnleashed: Your reviews and compliments of my characterization makes me feel so accomplished. It also puts a lot of pressure on me to keep future to characters in character. Although I may have gotten the characterization wrong in this scene, mainly because I made Anakin and Padme intelligent :p**

**I'd like to once again thank everyone else who reviewed. Keep 'em comin'!  
**

* * *

I awoke to an intense pain in my right arm. I screamed. Looking at my arm I noticed the flesh and bone have been replaced by metal. I fished through my pockets hoping to find a glove. No such luck. It took me a moment to realize my mother was gone. I looked around and noticed that I wasn't even in the Room of A Thousand Fountains anymore. I was lying on a bed at the Naboo Lake Retreat.

"Padmé?" I called hopefully.

She walked into the room. Her eyes were red and puffy. Was she crying? Crying because she had to see me? I realized that she wasn't going to be forgiving like Qui-Gon or my Mom, and that I didn't deserve her forgiveness. I killed her.

"I'm sorry," I told her.

She walked towards me and sat on the bed crossed legged. "Your mother was one of my five," she told me. "She asked me to forgive you. I told her I couldn't do that."

I look away from Padmé. I couldn't look at her while she broke my heart, broke it just like I broke hers.

"But for some reason," she said to me, touching my chin and pulling it towards her, "I still love you."

I looked at her, staring straight into her deep mocha eyes.

"You did horrible things, but that wasn't really you. That was Vader. Vader is dead now. Gone forever."

"I'm dead," I pointed.

Padmé took my hand. "The Netherworld isn't the end. It's the beginning."

"The beginning of what?" I asked.

She cut me off with her lips. I had forgotten what she tasted like. What she smelled like. What she felt like. She pulled her hands through her hair and we laid down on the bed together. We made love.

We hadn't been with each other in over twenty years, but every movement was done just as if we had preformed them yesterday. Nothing felt new, yet it all still felt so exciting, like we were newly weds again. The pressure of our secret always seemed to go away when we were together. When I was with her I felt whole, and not just in the physical way. Emotionally she fulfilled me.

We feel asleep in each other's arms. I awoke suddenly, just like the last time, and was scared, expecting to be in my next place, to meet my next person. But I found myself still in the bed I shared with Padmé. I grabbed my Jedi robe and placed it on. Did I deserve to wear the garments of a Jedi?

I walked down stairs and found Padmé in the kitchen cooking. "Am I supposed to still be here?" I asked her.

She tried, but failed, to look insulted, "What, am I bad company?"

"No," I laughed, "It's just the last time I fell asleep I, well I ended up here."

Padmé walked away from the stove and to me. She wrapped her arm around me. "Well maybe I'm not done with you yet." We kissed.

I smelt the air. "Burning!"

She yelped and ran to the stove. "Oh Sith!" she said and then turned back to me, realizing what she said, "Sorry."

I laughed and helped her clean up her mess. "So if this is the afterlife, why do we need sleep and food?" I asked.

"We don't really," she admitted, "We only need what we desire."

"I was always told to forget about my desires," I told her.

She shrugged, "Maybe the Jedi were wrong."

"But desires is what led me to the Dark Side in the first place."

Padmé threw the burnt food in a trash compactor and walked over to the refrigerator unit to try again. "Moderation is key," she said, "It's kind of like cooking." She cracked an egg over a skillet. "Like this egg. You don't want to eat it raw, but as we just learned you don't want to let it get burnt either.

"So what you saying," I said, "Is that Jedi should be allowed to love, as long as their love doesn't get in the way of their mission."

Padmé nodded her head vigorously. "I'm not trying to blame the Council for what happened. I'm just saying that if you had been allowed to express you feelings openly, allowed to seek the help we needed, maybe things wouldn't have turned out the way they did."

"It's no use to dwell on the past."

"I know." She took a plate and slid the eggs on it. She placed it front of me and began to make a second egg for herself. I inspected the eggs; scrambled, just how I liked them. "But we can hope the future will learn from those mistakes," she said. Padmé finished her own eggs and sat in front of me. She popped the yellow core of the sunnyside-up with a piece of toast. "Luke is planning on restarting the Jedi Order."

I stopped mid bite and my jaw almost hit the ground. I realized at that moment that Luke was _our_ son. And Leia, she was _our_ daughter. _Our_ family, the one I destroyed. Were we about to have that conversation?

"Oh, get some manners, Ani," Padmé teased. I closed my mouth and tried to laugh it off but I couldn't shake the thought that I had destroyed the one thing is the world that I wanted most. I destroyed our family.

"I'm sorry," I said to her.

She looked down at her breakfast. "I know," she said. She placed her hand on top of my hand; my real hand. It brought a smile to both of our faces.

"You must guide Luke," she said. I was confused. "I cannot," she explained, "I wasn't force-sensitive. But you, Ani, you can become a Force Ghost. You can communicate with our son. You can talk to our daughter too." Padmé smiled. "Make sure they don't make the same mistakes, Ani. Make they are allowed to openly fall in love. Don't let them restrict themselves and keep secrets. And Ani?"

"Yes, my love?"

"Please let them know how much I love them."

I agreed.

Time past, and after many days and nights I was still with my wife. It felt like months had gone by. I wondered if I was ever going to meet my fourth person, and prayed that I didn't. I didn't ever want to leave Padmé's side. We finally got to spend the time that we never got to spend with each other when we were actually married, when we were alive.

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**Please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**TheMacUnleashed: Thank you, your reviews mean so much to me. I try very carefully to get the characterizations right, just for you. **

**A/n: To all the reviewers, thank you, your reviews are what keep me going. I need to apologize to all of you for me taking so long to update. I got obsessed with working on another story. Luckily for you after over 12,000 words I am in a writers block, so I've switched gears and continued work on this story. Which is funny because I started this piece because of a writers block in my original fiction. I've just got on chapter left in here and it's already finished. As long as life doesn't get in the way (and by life I mean my massive reading list, my urges to write other stories, my online forum based RP, or the very rare social engagement) I should be updating either tomorrow or Thursday. **

**The more reviews I get the more likely I'll make say "Screw life" and make this story my first priority and have it updated tomorrow. :)  
**

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Chapter 4

"Anakin," Padmé said one night while I was exercising. I was on our balcony doing push-ups. I switched my position, opting for a one where I sat cross-legged in front of her. She sat down beside me and looked up at the beautiful Naboo sky. Then she looked deep into my eyes. "Anakin," she said with all seriousness, "I love you." She leaned in and kissed me. For the next few minuets all there was were kisses. I was expecting her to take me to the bed next, but before I had the chance my body began to feel like it was burning.

"Padmé," I shouted but she was no longer there. I reached out with my flesh arm but to my horror found that it was once again a robotic arm. "No!" I shouted. It couldn't be happening. I was turning into the monster all over again. I stood up and quickly looked around. The room around me felt cold. There were steel walls around me. What was left of my skin was burnt. Slowly I became enveloped in my former uniform. I tired to take off my mask, but before I got the chance someone spoke. "Milord?" she said.

She was a small girl who I had never seen before. She couldn't be older than fifteen. "What did we ever do to you?" she asked while looking out a viewport. I looked at my surroundings. I was on the Death Star. Outside was a small blue planet. Alderaan.

I beam of light started heading towards the planet. "No," I whispered.

"Yes!" the girl sneered. For a moment our surroundings changed. I was suddenly on Alderaan. I looked up as the sky changed. Then blackness. I felt fear. I felt death. In a moment we were back on the Death Star, only Alderaan was no longer in the viewport. "You killed us!" the young girl shouted. "We looked to the sky and then bam! We were dead."

"I'm so sorry," I said. But how could she ever believe me. I was a monster.

"If you weren't sorry then I wouldn't be here yelling at you, you nerf-herder!"

I looked at her puzzled.

"Many believe you belong in Chaos. Hell, I believe you belong there. But the force doesn't. Perhaps you truly are sorry," her words felts like a hundred stabbing knives, "But that doesn't stop your guilt."

I looked at her harshly. Everyone had forgiven me, why not her? Was it because she didn't truly know me? Or was killing a stranger even worst than killing a loved one?

"You will work to redeem yourself but you will always be guilty. You killed my mother and my father! You killed my brother! You killed my sisters! You killed my family and my friends! You killed everyone I ever knew!" she was shouting now, "You deserve worst than Chaos for you sins!"

Why didn't anyone else prepare me for this? They told me that I was forgiven and that I was a good person. They told me that I didn't belong in Chaos. But did they just say that because they were my friends, because they loved me? Was this girl right, did I not belong here?

"You are dirty," she said, this time with her inside voice. It was so quite I had to strain to hear her, "No matter what acts of kindness you do you will be never be clean or pure again. But," she paused trying to find her thoughts. I couldn't tell if the _but_ was good or bad. "But as long as you never repeat you sins, you should not end up in Chaos.

"How could I repeat?" I asked.

She scoffed and laughed manically, "You miserable fool. I hope you do end up in Hell. Nah. I know you. You'll screw up. You're a monster and that's all you'll ever be. The Force will agree with me soon. You won't be here for long."

"I'm sorry!" I said, but she began to fade. I shouted again, trying to get her to listen but she just kept laughing. Finally she faded out of view. Her laughter became quieter and then it was gone. The Death Star was gone. I could smell smoke. I looked around and there was lava everywhere. I was on Musafar.


	5. Chapter 5

**Pronker - It's actually not this story I had writers block on. I wrote this entire thing in one night. Granted it was an all nighter and I still needed desperate editing, but there was no blocking on this. It's this other fanfic I'm working on. Anyway, I guess switching gears worked because I've now got 15,000 words in that story :) I think I found my cure for writers block, edit an older piece and then go back to it. **

**Jedi Angel001 and TheMacUnleashed - I'm glad you liked what I did with the last chapter. I didn't want it too seem like he was going to be forgiven so easily. **

**HiddenJediLover - The way I end this chapter makes it seem like after his five people Anakin can really visit anyone he wants after his first five people. But in my mind it's more that the Force takes him where he needs to go, not where he wants to go, which is what Shmi told him. He'll see Padme again when he needs to. **

**A/n: So this is my last chapter. It's the shortest chapter of them all but I think it wraps things up nicely. Please review. :)  
**

**Mastrada101, AnnLay, Hoysterrule123 and HiddenJediLover, this chapter's for you.  
**

* * *

The lava surrounded me, consumed me. "No!" I shouted. Hadn't I already made this part of my transformation? I had taken on my cybernetic body; I had felt the pain of fire. Why was I burning again?

I saw a young version of Obi-Wan from across the lava river, the one I dueled on Mustafar. This time I was in too much pain to feel anger. "You were my brother, Anakin," he said. "I loved you." Those words had haunted me everyday for the last twenty years. And he had the nerve to say them again.

This time, though, I asked for help, nay, I begged for it. But there was nothing he could do. I just sunk down further into the lava.

I opened my eyes. I was in a heavily populated forest again. This time it was night and I was in some sort of tree village. There had to be a lot of fog around because it looked hazy, as if it wasn't really there. "You look good," a familiar voice said.

A flash of anger went through me.

"Control you feelings, padawan."

"Why didn't you save me?" I asked.

Obi-Wan walked towards me. He looked old again, like the day I killed him. But he looked as alive as ever. He wasn't even transparent like the world around us. "I couldn't save you," Obi-Wan admitted, "The dark side had consumed you."

"I meant a minuet ago…when I was sinking in the lava…"

Obi-Wan smiled. "You were being purified, padawan." We began to walk through forest. I could hear music from afar.

"But that girl said I would never be clean," I told him.

He shrugged, "The temptations of the dark side are powerful, even here in the Netherworld. But I trust you Anakin, I trust you won't make the same mistakes twice."

I noticed that my limbs had been replaced again with flesh. I wondered what was the point of me gaining my cybernetics back if I was just going to lose them again. Even my right arm was flesh.

"Master," I said. Obi-Wan stopped in front of me. He didn't turn around to look at me, but somehow I knew he was smiling. It felt strange to call him master, but it also felt right. "I'm sorry," I said.

Obi-Wan turned around, showing to me he did in fact have a smile. "I know, Padawan."

There wasn't anything else to say. He knew my regret was real and we both knew only time, not words, could heal the wounds between us.

We began to walk towards a bonfire. I noticed rebels and Ewoks dancing and celebrating. "How long have I been dead?" I asked.

Obi-Wan shrugged, "A few hours."

"Strange," I said, "It felt like months."

"Time in the Netherworld travels differently," he told me, "What feels like seconds could be years, and what feels like years could be seconds."

We stop at the edge of the forest. I could finally make out the figures in front of me. "Master Yoda?" I said.

"Repented, you have," he said. While the wise Jedi usually annoyed me with his whacked up sentence structure tonight I had found comfort in it. "A long journey ahead, there still is."

I nodded at him and look at the partygoers. I noticed my son lost in thought. He looked over at us and smiled. _There is balance if the Force tonight._ I smiled back.


End file.
